This Crockpot Pumpkin Chili has a lot of fans in my family and this gluten-free chili recipe also freezes well, so if you have a big slow cooker don't be afraid to double the recipe! If you'd like a lower-carb version of this, just use more beef and use less beans.

This week I'm traveling to Austin, Texas to attend the BlogHer Food Conference, so as you can imagine, there's not a lot of cooking or shooting photos going on right now at my house. But it's October, so I thought I'd feature this favorite Crockpot Pumpkin Chili with Ground Beef, Black Beans, and Kidney Beans that has a lot of fans in my family. In fact, my nephew Matt Denny and his wife Lindy won a chili-making contest with this recipe, and they've been making it ever since. And it's pumpkin season and chili season; hope you enjoy!

This pumpkin chili recipe started out in a mysterious way on the blog back in 2010 when I edited these photos, loaded them into a post, and then accidentally hit publish instead of save. For the short time until I noticed my mistake, the photos and no words were published on the blog, and one sweet reader even left a very tactful comment saying "I don't see where the ingredients are listed." But once the actual recipe was there, this recipe quickly developed quite a few fans, and it's a fun idea for family dinner during October, or even on Halloween!

I spiced it up quite a bit from the inspiring recipe, switched most of the kidney beans for black beans, added more garlic, and added diced green chiles. My version has what may seem like a lot of spices, but I think crockpot recipes can be pretty bland without extra seasoning and the result was a chili that's full of flavor.

I think beans are a wonderful low-glycemic food, but if you're wanting a lower-carb dish I'd recommending doubling (or even tripling) the amount of beef and only using one can of beans. Either way, this chili will be delicious!

Heat a small amount of oil in a heavy pan, the brown the ground beef well, seasoning with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Add browned meat to the crockpot.

You probably don't have to rinse the canned beans when you're using them in a crockpot recipe, but it helps rinse away some of the starchiness so the beans are easier to digest. (I used 2 cans black beans and 1 can kidney beans, but I figured you didn't need another photo of rinsed kidney beans.)

Add the beans to the crockpot along with a can of pumpkin and two cans petite diced tomatoes. Stir the mixture, then cook on high for 4-6 hours, depending on how hot your slow cooker is.

I cooked my chili about 4 1/2 hours, and it looked like this when it was done. Serve hot, with grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

I think Spicy Mexican Slaw would make a great side dish for this chili if you wanted a heartier meal.

Instructions:
Heat a small amount of oil in a large heavy frying pan, add ground beef, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and cook until the beef is well browned. Add browned meat to the crockpot.

Add a little more oil to the frying pan, add diced onion and green bell pepper and cook 2-3 minutes, until the onion and pepper is just starting to soften. Add minced garlic, ground cumin, chili powder, ground Ancho chili pepper, dried cilantro, dried oregano, Spike Seasoning and diced green chiles and saute a couple minutes more. (Sauteing the spices and chiles helps release the flavor, so don't skip this step.) Put the onion mixture into the crockpot, then deglaze the pan with the beef stock and add that to crockpot.

While onions and peppers are cooking, drain the beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse with cold water until no more foam appears. (This removes excess starchiness and makes the beans easier to digest.) Add beans to the crockpot. Add canned pumpkin and diced tomatoes with juice.

Stir the mixture to combine ingredients, then cook on high for 4-6 hours, (or 8-10 hours on low) stirring a few times if you're home. (I cooked my chili about 4 1/2 hours on high and it was perfect, but crockpots can vary greatly as to how hot they get, so adjust the cooking time depending on your own slow cooker.)

Serve hot, topped with grated cheese and sour cream if desired. This chili will be even better after it's been in the fridge overnight, and also freezes well.

The addition of pumpkin to this recipe would make it phase 2 or 3 for the South Beach Diet. However beans are a great low-glycemic food, or you can make a lower-carb version of this by doubling (or tripling) the beef and only using one can of beans.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Bloggers Make Pumpkin Chili:

(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

i did see this last night and it made me so excited because I love the sound of this! I bet you could add some butternut squash or pumpkin chunks to really enhance the pumpkin taste! Sounds great though.

Oh, how delicious, Kalyn! I've had sweet potato in chili and it just thickened and subtly complemented the spiciness, so I expect the pumpkin here is similar. This might be just the ticket for my support group meeting here on Tuesday! Oh, and thanks for the info on sauteeing the dried spices to help release the flavor. I don't often do that, but will now! :-)

This looks like a wonderful recipe. Such an interesting group of ingredients that I can only imagine blend into wonderful flavors. Another bookmarked! I've accidently hit the publish button before, but knew I did and was frantically editing before anyone could see it. :-)

I started making pumpkin chili several years ago and it's been my absolute favorite, go-to recipe ever since! I agree with you that the pumpkin flavor is not strong; it's more of a nice background flavor and adds a wonderful texture. If I might also make a suggestion - I find that cinnamon is a wonderful ingredient in my pumpkin chili!

For me,if I have to cook the meat,and saute veggies I might as well forgo the crock pot,and just cook on the stove. My crock pot cooking imo shortens the amount of dishes,and prep work,so I only go w/crock pot as a one step..that's my reasoning of course..the recipe looks good,has anyone already made it?

Anonymous, I know a lot of people have that opinion about crockpot cooking, but personally I think that's why so many crockpot dishes are just kind of so-so. The extra flavor from browning the meat and sauteeing the vegetables is worth it for me.

If you did make it on the stovetop I would slightly reduce the amount of spaces (because the crockpot needs more spices to stand up to the long cooking time) and use a little more liquid.

Anon -- Comments are moderated and don't show up on the blog until I publish them. If I don't do that, I get all kinds of spam comments that I don't want to appear on my blog. I'm usually pretty quick at posting them unless I'm out and about; no need to repost the comment.

Dara, I don't know if it's Blogger or Comcast that's holding up my comments, but I didn't get your comment until after I'd written those replies. Hate it when that happens! You're right, the pumpkin makes this more nutritious as well as tasty!

This was delicious. I had made salsa a few days ago with fresh roasted anaheims, cilantro, onions, tomatoes and garlic. I substituted it for some of the other ingredients. I also used ground turkey and beef bouillion as my protein. The flavor is wonderful. Thank you Kalyn!

your pumpkin article on blogher was so resourceful, Kalyn! This year, I have been buying atleast one pumpkin/winter squash a week and trying something new with it.. and that article gave me so many ideas. thank you!

Thanks for the great recipe. A good way to get pumpkin's benefits into your diet without sugar, and even though it adds flavor to the chili, it's subtle enough that no one would even guess that's the mystery ingredient. I don't normally add cumin to my chili, so it was a good variation to my usual and quite good.

Argh! No Spike seasoning at our local grocery stores. I guess they didn't restock after the recall. I don't have any other spice blends; do you think it will be okay without it, or do you have other suggestions? Thanks!

I started making this last night, and it's in the crockpot as we speak. I made a few adjustments based on what I had on hand, but only to a little bit of the seasonings. It's a WONDERFUL recipe!!!! Perfect ratio of meat/beans/sauce. Not to thick, or thin. Just perfect! Thanks Kalyn!

Kalyn, I took the plunge and made this for the first time with COMPANY COMING for our family Halloween party! Talk about SCARY!So I couldn't find the peppers, and left them out, compensating with the chili powder. I doubled the recipe and it didn't all fit in my crockpot. lol. I cooked it in my big stockpot. I was scared of all the spices, and was concerned about the strong taste of pumpkin initially. But tasting periodically had me adding spices. I liked the tip about cooking the beans. My husband appreciated it! :-) Everyone LOVED the chili. My sister brought Comedian's Corn Bread: a little cheesy and a littly corny! You don't have to post this. Just wanted you to know and say thanks!

I'm trying this recipe right now! I had to half it, because my crockpot is teeny tiny, and ended up making some adjustments based on my taste preferences, and the accidental purchase of re-fried black beans... I hope it still turns out okay!I'll let you know, but this is such a fun recipe. I love pumpkin anything, and spicy chili sounds so delicious with all this nasty winter weather.

Funny, it's cold here in the Northern Colorado Mtns today and I'd JUST pulled out your Black Bean and Beef Chili and the Crockpot Black Bean Chili w/Lime/Cilantro and this recipe popped into my feed. This is probably a stupid question, but if I just cook this on top of the stove, would I go four hours at low heat? I hate my crockpot....it doesn't seem to HAVE a low (it has a button for Low) setting, and everything just boils all the time. Thanks!

Made this today for a chili cook off. Added hot green chilies instead of mild and pork sausage for meat. It was really good but the pumpkin flavor got lost.I wanted a subtle pumpkin punch so I added 1.5 Cups roasted diced butternut and a TBSP pumpkin pie spice. It got rave reviews! I had never made this so I didn't know what to expect. I'm so glad I did! Thank you.

Yes, you did mention the pumpkin is not strong. Out of all the recipes I went through (about 30) I liked your spice mix the best. I am excited to have a recipe that is easy to add small changes that really make it a unique taste! Yesterday about 5 other coworkers said they were going to make this for their chili contests. I have a birthday party I'm taking it to tomorrow. So fun to share a great tasting healthy recipe! Thank you again!

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

I've recently changed my comment settings so people can comment without signing in, but you will need to check the box to show you're a live person, and comments on older posts won't show up until I publish them. Thanks for understanding!

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